All posts tagged basics

Matched Betting Explained

Matched betting is a way in which people can profit from the free bets regularly offered by bookmakers.

By both betting for and against a sporting result, known as a back and lay bet, and by using a free bet offered by a bookmaker, you are able to win your bet whatever the result may be, and profit from it too, typically with at least 70% of the free bet being returned.

Example

To give you an example of how this works, let’s imagine we’re betting on the football match Arsenal vs Manchester United.

Now most bookmakers require you to make a bet of your own before offering you the free bet, with the terms something like bet £10 to gain a free £20 bet, so we’ll have to start by placing a bet with our own money.

So we place a £10 bet with this bookmaker using our own money for Manchester United to win. The bookmaker then gives us a free £20 bet, which we also put on Manchester United to win.

Opening Post

Welcome, before I start going in to more detail on what matched betting is and where to get the best offers, I thought I’d take a moment to introduce myself and tell you my story.

A friend first introduced me to matched betting in 2009. He did well to explain it (it’s not that easy, especially verbally!), but to me it just sounded like a bit of a scam so I overlooked it. A few months later that friend was asking how I was getting on with matched betting, and to avoid disappointing, I decided it was time I looked in to it further.

I spent a few weeks reading blogs and forums to understand it a little more, before eventually I plucked up the courage to test it out, and much to my surprise, it actually worked.

My Progress

One important point to stress here is that this isn’t some kind of get rich quick scheme, it certainly won’t make you rich, but matched betting does have the potential to bring in an extra few hundred pounds here and there for very little effort.

Since starting out in 2009, I’ve made a profit of over £900 each year, and that’s without being as committed as I could be.

With the launch of this blog though, I’ll share my progress in detail going forward, telling you what bets I’ve placed with which bookmakers, what free bet offers I received, and what returns I’ve picked up to give you a clear picture of what really is possible.

Why Blog About It?

There were two main reasons behind me creating this blog. Firstly, a few friends have asked me to explain matched betting to them, so having something I can point them to whilst helping others at the same time is great.

Secondly, some of the links to bookmakers websites are affiliate links, which means I can earn a small referral fee from bookmakers should you sign up to their websites.

Hopefully you find the information here useful and are happy to go through my affiliate links, but you can of course just go directly to the bookmakers websites yourself should you prefer.